


ripple

by dweamingdayz



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, Gen, Subtle flirting, Unpredictability, basically chan being a weirdo, being important to each other, intense observations, it gets a little cheesy near the end, not really romance, okay maybe a little bit of romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-09-29 16:44:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17207117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dweamingdayz/pseuds/dweamingdayz
Summary: she thought she had memorised every customer's face and order, yet the man in front of her proved her very wrong.~"he was the ripple that broke her life's stillness."





	ripple

**Author's Note:**

> i know i named it a stray kids/bang chan fanfic, but no names were used in the entirety of the fanfic despite the character being based on chan. it's a new style i'm attempting, so please pardon any inconsistencies :)

[ 25 march, 4:19 pm. ]

"a large iced americano, please." she looked up to see an unfamiliar face.

"that would be $3.50" in the one year she worked there, she thought she had memorised every customer's face and order, yet the man in front of her proved her very wrong.

it wasn't like she fell for the man with brown curly hair, she was simply fascinated by the fact that new people were still finding out about the coffee shop she worked at. her watching him settle down in a window seat was definitely not due to the fact that he was pretty attractive.

ignoring the fact that he had his obnoxiously bright red headphones on, she still said, "here's your order." she wordlessly noted that his cologne smelled expensive.

the man at the window seat proceeded to fiddle with his laptop and modulator on the table. a music producer? that was something undoubtedly new in the town. the closest thing to music one would find here is a small record store down the road.

[ 1 april, 2:47 pm. ]

"a small vanilla latte, please." he handed her a wad of cash and smiled, casually flashing his dimples. he seemed to be in a better mood compared to his first visit, that's for sure.

did the man always have grey hair, or was this just an april fools joke?

this time, the man sat at a corner seat, far away from the windows. instead of his bright red headphones, he used earbuds and took out a book. monsters of men, the cover read. was he not going to work on his music today?

not that she was staring, but she couldn't help but notice how the only thing that didn't change over the week was the same metal ring around his finger. maybe it meant something to him.

unlike their first encounter, the man didn't leave till closing time. his latte somehow lasted him his entire stay. he doesn't seem to have much to do in his life, seeing how he could afford to spend almost a full day in a coffee shop.

[ 15 april, 10:27 am. ]

"a large cappuccino, please." the now black haired man came in for his daily cup of coffee. she wasn't sure when it started, but his presence became yet another constant in her routine.

except, he wasn't very much a constant at all.

his hair colour changed like how he would change his clothes, his order varied every time he walked through the glass doors and sometimes, just sometimes, she would notice how he used a different cologne.

today was no different, he came in with yet another activity to do. his new black headphones blended in with his black curls and instead of a modulator, he simply wrote in a notebook.

[ 15 april, 1:04 pm. ]

"a medium mocha latte, please." the man, who had progressively been spending more time in the shop, approached the counter for the second time in a day.

"you're going to overdose," she remarked and keyed in his order. "that will be $2.75."

"i don't think it's part of your job to meddle in what customers do with their lives." he frowned, handing her the money.

she didn't usually engage in conversation with customers. it wasted energy that she could use to stand for the remainder of the day. he was the first patron to hear her say something other than a recommendation or a price.

and of course she would pick up on the fact that he hasn't had anything for lunch other than the two cups of coffee. quietly, she keyed in a box of sandwiches as an order and put in the cash she stashed away in her apron.

"thanks?" he shot her a confused look and stopped twirling a straw wrapper around his finger, where his ring used to be.

"it's on the house."

[ 15 april, 3:54 pm. ]

while clearing the tray return area, she found a folded piece of paper above a box. there were two sandwiches left. on the piece of paper read, in letters that looked well practiced, "you didn't go for your lunch break. 3:45."

it was obviously from the dimpled man with the notebook. she didn't eat the sandwiches.

[ 29 april, 9:32 pm. ]

after a full month of visiting daily, the man didn't turn up today. she couldn't help but wonder what happened that prevented her from seeing even a strand of his dyed hair. if he had dropped by today, would he wear his pair of yellow shoes? or would his hair be a neon orange?

just like the slightly odd man himself, it was unusual for customers to suddenly stop coming without finding a need to inform her of their future whereabouts. the natural friendship between people came with the small town.

she decided to focus on cleaning up the shop. it wasn't like her to worry about a customer whom she would probably never see again.

the walls seem a little plain.

[ 4 may, 5:55 pm. ]

turns out, that one day was just a desperately needed break from all the caffeine he had been taking in. "when were those put up?" the man, now with bleached hair and a friend by his side, pointed at the framed paintings on the wall.

"yesterday. may i take your orders?" there was no need for her to brag about painting them, and there was definitely no need for her to feel happy that someone noticed.

"two strawberry frappucinos, please." he said, smiling at the man next to him. it was the first time he ordered for two.

he put on contacts today, she noted, just like his friend. she had never seen the man with fluffy blue hair and chubby cheeks before.

"thank you," the blue haired man said when she put their cups down. the white haired regular barely reacted.

the man never failed to surprise her with every visit, he was probably the only person she came across who was still wearing a jacket despite summer being just around the corner. the jacket was new, too.

not going to lie, she was curious about the new person in town. was the town bigger than she knew or was there a sudden influx of new residents? what boggled her mind even more was the fact that these young men, no older than her, were able to work with music.

in this town, music wasn't valued. residents listened and enjoyed it occasionally, but no one ever stepped up to create it. the sight of the men fiddling with the modulator and laptop was certainly very fascinating, even to other patrons.

[ 12 may, 8:03 am ]

almost immediately after she opened up the coffee shop, a group of young men flocked in through the ever spotless glass doors.

in the slightly rowdy group of nine, she mutely recognised three of them. his previously bleached hair was now dyed a shade of green that slightly resembled a broccoli. the man with chubby cheeks was also in the group, now with blond hair. her eyes then wandered to the man with a jaw so sharp it was hard to miss. she knew him as a fellow occupant of her apartment building. this little coincidence made her feel slightly aware of the fact that she was more connected to the man with green hair, who was currently picking at his fingers, than she had previously thought.

while she took the group's order, she mentally noted to herself how his eyes were slightly puffy. maybe it was due to him getting out of the house early, it was the first time she saw him before nine.

silently, she wished that the group would lower their volume. she had a rough night and the least she could ask for was a peaceful morning. the fact that she had a headache didn't help. however, she wouldn't let her discomfort ruin her professional front. closing early seemed like a good idea, though.

"are you the only one working here?" she looked up from a stain on a table to see the man with green hair staring at her with a curious look in his downturned eyes. she could never get used to his hair colours.

"i don't know about you, but i don't see anyone else behind the counter with me." she never used to talk this casually with her customers. perhaps his unpredictability had rubbed off on her.

ignoring how pity tugged his smile upside down, she returned to scrubbing the stain off the table. maybe the fissure in her professional image was caused by a sudden personal - as she would classify it - question. or maybe it was the fact that her routine had started to go haywire since his arrival and she wasn't the most appreciative for it.

she led the most routine life one would ever see. she maintained her appearance such that nothing ever changed and especially disliked - hated, even - altering her surroundings. yet, since she encountered the physical embodiment of random himself, she found herself letting her hair grow a little past her shoulders for the first time and buying new shoes.

in fact, that wasn't the only way he had chipped away at her rigidity. the paintings on the wall sat in a corner of her apartment, everything half finished, for nearly a year. painting had always been a hobby and talent she valued, but the coffee shop seemed to rob her of the time and energy she could have spent on completing her works. seeing how the man consistently worked on his music inspired her to push herself harder to finally finish her paintings. they were proof of his impact, however unnoticed, on her. over the days of seeing him in the coffee shop, she came to learn how he has always been working on music no matter what he brought into the shop, whether it was a book or his modulator.

maybe music was his constant.

[ 21 may, 5:20 pm. ]

his green hair barely lasted a week before he dyed it to a light pink. she was starting to get worried for his scalp. behind him followed his chubby cheeked friend, who also changed his hair colour. the bright orange suited him, it didn't look as attention-seeking as it should when it was on his head.

"two small hazelnut lattes, please." she keyed in his order, quietly noting how the mop of orange seemed to linger around the paintings.

instead of staying in the coffee shop, the two left immediately after they received their orders. it wasn't uncommon for people to decide not to stay in the coffee shop, but it surprised her that he seemed to be in a rush for something. the man never seemed to have anything important to do. but at this point, 'never' felt like a word that shouldn't be associated with him.

the circles under his eyes seemed darker today.

[ 18 june, 11:38 am. ]

"a large black coffee, please." his voice was a little hoarse. his eyes were bloodshot, too.

"maybe you should opt for sleep instead." she quietly mumbled, keying in his order nonetheless.

she ignored how he glared at her. maybe she went too far this time with butting into a customer's business. she only found truth in her words though, he definitely seemed to be in need of sleep.

she watched how the man shuffled into the window seat he first sat in. he was in full black, the only colour on him being the brown in his hair and the red in his eyes. judging by how she could smell his shampoo, he probably didn't use any cologne today.

the man took out his modulator and laptop. the black headphones resting on his neck was left untouched this time. a little puzzled, she watched on as he tapped away at his keyboard with practiced ease. despite his former tired demeanor, his bloodshot eyes came alive once he started to create what she assumed as his constant.

little did she know, his constant wasn't as straightforward as music.

[ 6 september, 7:29 pm. ]

it's been over half a year since he first walked through the glass doors that have since found some form of decoration. she had stuck on some brown leaf decals in celebration of autumn, her favourite season.

"i like autumn, too." he said, taking in his slightly different surroundings.

"may i take your order, please?" as accustomed to his presence as she may be, her stone cold tone has never once changed for him.

"you could afford to be a little more friendly," he mumbled, and she was slapped in the face with realisation. the man had always sounded a little different than the residents of the town because he wasn't local. the sharp edge to his voice that she could never quite place her finger on was due to the fact that he was australian. maybe she wasn't as observant as she prided herself in being.

the newfound knowledge of his identity made her even more intrigued, not that she would admit to it. the town usually gave immigrants a hard time. it wasn't much of close-mindedness, but rather a sense of possessiveness over each other that restrained the locals from interacting with strangers. locals seemed to have the idea that immigrants would pull them apart. the friendship that comes with a small town isn't so simple. immigrants are usually ostracized, whether intentionally or not, and have a hard time fitting in. perhaps that was the reason why he tried so hard to mask his accent.

finding no need to expose the fact that she was more aware of who he was, she quietly went about her day.

[ 17 september, 3:38 pm. ]

"the flowers are a nice touch. are they real?" she could still smell some of the dye that stained his hair in red streaks.

"they're fake." the delphiniums sitting on every table seemed to go well with the light grey walls of the coffee shop. flowers had never been much of an interest for her, but she was right about the fact that they would make the place seem a little more alive. even if the flowers themselves weren't.

odd. she never enjoyed seeing something different.

"hey, do you know what delphiniums symbolise?" the man, still not ordering anything, piped up once again. "they show growth and change."

"great. may i have your order, please?" not wanting to sound rude, she tried to seem interested. sarcasm got the best of her, unfortunately. he seemed to like flowers.

as happy as the flowers made him, whatever he was reading on his notebook seemed to do a better job at bringing his dimples out. she couldn't decide if it was the flowers or his new watch that seemed to make him smile more. it still remained a mystery as to how the man managed to earn enough for such frequent hair styling and his abundance of new clothes and accessories. she had always been told that music doesn't earn much. maybe he came from a rich family, migrating is never cheap.

[ 23 october, 4:16 pm. ]

"a large macchiato, please." it was the first time he ordered something from the 'most popular' part of the menu. he usually stuck to more unusual drinks.

it had been a long time since she had seen him with black hair. if she didn't know better, she might have thought that his eccentrics were simply an illusion.

the man seemed to be in a more somber mood today. his face remained straight as he put on his black headphones and his lips were pulled into a frown. was his music production not going well? deciding not to accidentally add to his ruined mood by disrupting his focus, she pursed her lips and cautiously put the steaming cup of coffee down on the table next to his laptop, where she usually placed it. she wasn't used to seeing him not smile. in her mind, his dimples seemed to be engraved permanently in his cheeks.

maybe an unpredictable man came with unpredictable emotions too. at least it showed that he was serious about his work.

[ 2 november, 11:12 am. ]

his little emotional outburst seemed to last just for a day, since he came in with a smile as bright as his newly dyed purple hair the following days. the purple in his hair complimented the yellow spots on his pants. when she looked closer, she realised that the spot were actually images of rubber ducks. the childish pyjama pants were a stark contrast against the ripped jeans she had grown used to seeing on him.

"aren't you getting a little too comfortable? this is still a public space," she tried hard not to give him her best stink eye.

"what's wrong with these? they're cute." he grinned proudly, happy with his choice of pants. "could i have a medium cafe au lait, please?"

"basic," she snorted, keying in his order without hesitation.

"i prefer the word 'normal'." as if he could ever be normal.

[ 24 december, 9:12 pm. ]

"you're open even on christmas eve?" he talked loudly as if there was no one else in the shop. his hair was silver with a metallic blue at the tips, very fitting for the cold winter.

"fancy seeing you still in town and not visiting your family." focused on putting a decorative snowflake back in place on the wall, she didn't even notice that she exposed her knowledge of his nationality.

"that's why i'm buying five large americanos, to go please." he either didn't realise it or he simply didn't care. why is he so careful to cover up his accent if he wouldn't even mind a stranger talking about him not being a local?

"coffee isn't a good christmas gift, especially for family." she frowned, counting the bills he handed over.

"letting them experience an important part of my daily life is the best gift i can give, if you ask me." his eyes wandered around the festive decor of the shop, stopping at the snowflakes on the wall behind her. "it wouldn't be the only thing i'm giving them, though. consider it a bonus gift?"

however, she didn't pay much attention to his later words. her coffee was important in his life?

"what are you doing for christmas?" he broke her out of her reverie with a question.

"it's against the company's policy to give out personal information of workers."

"i'll come back here tomorrow." he ignored her firm statement. he seemed a little restless today, his eyes were on everything but her. "keep the store open for a little longer."

who was he to tell her what to do with her shop and her working hours?

[ 25 december, 10:07 pm. ]

she currently hates herself for keeping the shop open half an hour past its normal closing time.

maybe without her realising, he had become part of her life too.

"you actually waited?" an amused smirk danced across his lips as he strode into the coffee shop, a bounce in his step. "i'm surprised. i thought i would come back to locked doors."

she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the cocky tone of his voice. had he been running in the rain? the droplets of water glistened between the dyed strands of his hair under the lights in the shop. his breath was slightly uneven, too. "may i take your order? i have a shop to close."

a short moment of silence fell upon both of them as the man languidly sipped his coffee while tracing shapes on the table. "have you eaten?" he asked. the rain droplets were starting to roll off his hair and onto the table. he must be freezing.

"i'm pretty sure everyone would have eaten, considering how late it is." she pushed a few buttons on a remote control and the coffee shop got a little warmer almost immediately. "do you need a towel for your hair?"

"yes, please." he flashed a smile, his ears turning pink due to embarrassment. "and not everyone would have eaten yet."

picking up on his little hint, she fumbled around in the cupboards and found a clean towel. "feel free to take any of these." she said, setting down a box of leftover pastries from the day. she would usually eat them or send them for composting, but feeding him would take care of them too.

"thanks," his dimples deepened and he immediately shoved a croissant into his mouth.

she looked away from his slightly unfavourable expression while he continued to scarf down the leftovers.

"did you not spend christmas with your family?" his sudden question made her calm demeanor falter for a split second.

"no."

[ 3 january, 2:43 pm. ]

the man arrived in fashion today. the tranquility of the coffee shop was broken when a sleek black motorcycle pulled up in front of the window, currently bare. she recognised the motorcyclist as the man who came daily. his black hair tumbled out of the helmet as he took it off, revealing his bold yellow highlights. the yellow reminded her of the time he wore his rubber duck pyjama pants, or of a bumblebee.

"pretty cool, huh?" he smiled proudly, admiring his new motorcycle when he approached the counter. his hair was slightly messy from the helmet.

"it's really noisy." she stated frankly. she couldn't deny that it looked really good, though. the bike looked really expensive.

when did he even learn to ride a bike?

after getting his cup of coffee, the man sat down in the middle of the coffee shop and started flipping through a book. there was no denying the fact that she stared a little longer at how the leather jacket fit him perfectly, or that she secretly grinned at how he changed his cologne yet again.

[ 14 february, 2:03 pm. ]

"my usual, please."

"sir, you order a different drink every day. you don't have a usual." she tried hard to not sigh at the red haired man but ultimately failed.

"i do have a usual." he replied, only to be faced with a confused frown. "it's you." her frown turned into a look of complete exasperation.

in the end, he ordered a cotton candy frappucino, exclusive to the special day, and settled into a seat. the coffee shop was unusually crowded with couples today. even the old man who came alone daily for a cup of coffee brought his wife along.

the delphiniums that sat on the center of every table had been swapped out with a single rose, each tagged with a cheesy handwritten pickup line that she spent the night before searching the internet for. the shop wasn't the only festive looking one, though. her pink shoes matched the ribbon that gathered her hair, now past her shoulder blades, into a high ponytail. not that anyone noticed.

[ 28 february, 6:29 pm. ]

she stopped to take in the sight in front of her. the setting sun casted a soft golden glow on his face, accentuating his jaw and giving his cheekbones a natural highlight. at that moment, he looked ethereal.

she averted her gaze before it became obvious that she was staring. quietly, she wondered if he had eaten his dinner. she was always ready to give him some pastries if he hadn't.

the artificial pink buttercups on the table in front of him seemed to stand taller today.

[ 16 march, 10:44 am. ]

it has almost been a year since his first step into the boring, grey coffee shop she had treated like her safe haven from everything flashing by her eyes in a second, not giving her time to move on. the place that gave her the stability she needed has since been turned into a place that would keep her on her toes, paintings adorned the once plain wall and flowers filled up the empty space on every table.

within all the changes she voluntarily made to her valued constant, she was the one who had changed the most. her hair that never seemed to touch her shoulders now brushed against her back when she moved a certain way and the black sneakers no one saw her out of had been replaced by a pair of white ones.

the one who was responsible for all this was the man who currently had honey brown hair and a new piercing. he was the most unpredictable person she had ever met. he would come in everyday and find a new drink to try, sometimes even creating his own by mixing two together. his hair colours changed almost as often as the sun rising and setting. the cologne always smelled different on him. his shoes were never the same exact pair, he would even go to the extent of wearing mismatched ones to avoid being the same. the word 'normal' could never be associated with him. to him, nothing was ever permanent.

she hoped that her coffee shop wouldn't be like that with him.

everyone has to have a constant in their life. she thought that music was his. however, she was wrong.

she was his constant, and he was the ripple that broke her life's stillness.


End file.
